Carpe Diem
by RobertDowneyJrLove
Summary: Tony takes a chance with Pepper and the end result? Why, Pepperony fluff, of course!


He wasn't trying to be sappy- it wasn't in his nature to be sappy- but even the great seemingly invincible Tony Stark had unshakable feelings that eventually he couldn't ignore. Feelings that had been culminating for more than ten years, since the hiring of one Virginia 'Pepper' Potts. The beautiful red-head with the baby blue eyes that could see right through him, pierce him to the very core. He didn't understand how one person could have such a profound effect on his life but she had managed to change his life more than anything ever had.

Even after Afghanistan, the ordeal with Obadiah Stane and then the other ordeal with Ivan Vanko.

Those ordeals had given him the hard as steel exterior necessary to be his superhero alter-ego Iron Man. The way he had it figured, he had been given more second chances than he deserved in life and with his best friend. But there was one chance that he had to hold onto because if he didn't and he lost that chance, there would be no second chances. It was the one moment when maybe, just maybe, he could finally tell Pepper how he felt.

How, no matter how hard he tried to fight it, he couldn't help the way he felt about her. It was something people often wondered. How two people, obviously so in love and so perfect for each other, could never see what they had and how they should hold onto it while they still have it. It was something he wondered himself. How could he be so much in love with her and still never see until now that if he didn't hold onto it, there was a good chance he'd lose what he had or could have with his best friend.

He wanted a future with her. He wanted to marry her, he wanted to father her children. He wanted to call her pet-names for the rest of their lives and tell her that he loved her until he was hoarse. He wanted to hear the pitter-patter of little feet, the perfect mix of him and Pepper. Baby blue eyes, dark red-brown hair and a smattering of freckles. He wanted to have all of that. He wanted to hear someone call him 'Daddy'. And there wasn't anyone else he wanted it with but her.

But there would be no future with Pepper if he didn't tell her and as horrifying as that fact was to him, he knew that it would be true if he didn't tell her.

That's what scared him the most. Knowing that not acting on his feelings could result in losing the possibility of that future he had dreamed of having with Pepper. He couldn't handle losing her. He couldn't handle the possibility of a life without her. He knew that if he ever lost her, he'd be fighting a battle with his demons that he couldn't win. He wouldn't win. Not without his better half.

"I don't want to lose you, Pepper." Tony blurted out, looking over at Pepper, who was typing away diligently at her laptop.

The laptop snapped shut and a pair of blue eyes stared at him, as if to say that he had completely lost his mind; "Tony, if you think you're going to lose me, then I think I need to remedy that. I'm not going anywhere."

"I know but-" With a frustrated sigh, he fell back against the back of the couch they were sitting on. "Pepper, what we have, it's very important to me. I don't want to lose-"

"Tony," She cut him off with a gentle finger pressed over his lips. "What's this all about?"

It was then that he realized that the laptop had been placed on the coffee table was she was hovering beside him on her knees. He looked up and smiled as his chocolate brown eyes met her own baby blue eyes. He reached up and tenderly tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear. He looked hesitant, as if he was thinking but he spoke anyway, even if it was cryptic. "What if there was this woman and this man, who were given a chance to hold onto whatever it was they had, good or bad but they could never see that if they didn't hold onto it, they ran the risk of losing each other and everything they'd ever shared?"

"What are you talking about, Tony?" Pepper asked him, furrowing her eyebrows together in confusion.

"I mean, a man and a woman having something between them and it being important to both of them but they couldn't see that if they didn't try harder to hold onto it, then they'd lose that one chance. The one moment they had a chance to hold onto it would be gone and they wouldn't get it back." His message was still sort of cryptic but she managed to get it.

"Tony-"

"You know why I haven't had any of my usual nightmares lately?" He asked her softly, only continuing when she shook her head. "Because instead of dreaming of my time in Afghanistan, I started dreaming of what a future would be like with you. What our kids might look like, what our life would be like and I discovered that I want that life, that future I dream about when I close my eyes every night."

"Our future?" Pepper asked him, unable to help her curiosity.

"Our future." Tony confirmed with a nod of his head. "You know, us getting married, us having kids...just being together."

Pepper smiled fondly as she thought about what being married to her best friend might be like. How playful and loving he might be. What their kids might look like and how they might be mischievous and playful like their father.

Yes, she could most definitely see that future.

"Tony that's a nice thought, but-"

"No buts." Tony shook his head, "Pepper I want that with you. But for that to happen I have to a take a chance and hope it works out. I have to take this chance, hold onto whatever I might have with you and hope like hell I can make that into something better without completely screwing up because God knows I can screw things up-hmph!"

Her lips were buttery soft and silky smooth against his, the faint taste of raspberries lingering on her skin. Her arms wound around his neck, pulling him closer. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her on top of him, until she was straddling him. He was surprised by the fact that he didn't want anything sexual from the contact. He found himself just wanting to enjoy the moment. Just wanting to enjoy the feel of her soft, warm body in his arms and the soft lips moving against his.

"I want that too, Tony." Pepper smiled breathlessly, pulling away and leaning her forehead against his. "I want that too."

"Good because I love you, Pepper." Tony smiled softly.

As her lips melded with his, the meaning behind his cryptic message dawned on her. It was them about holding onto something, even the smallest thing, and turning it into something better. It was about seizing that moment, taking that chance and finding out what could come of it. Finding the future that awaited them.

Finding the future they'd both dreamed about.

* * *

><p><strong>Whew! Done! Four days and one intense headache later, I'm finished with this story! Based somewhat on 'This Woman and This Man' by Clay Walker, but it's based mostly on the first lines of the chorus not the entire song. In the song, the lyrics speak of a couple trying to repair their relationship and finding themselves to be like star-crossed lovers...so in love and meant to be but never taking the chance to find out what they might have had together. Never finding out what could have been. I knew that Tony's seemingly spontaneous, live for the moment nature wouldn't necessarily lend itself well to not taking a chance on a relationship with Pepper. He seemed to be all about living for that moment and if that moment was with Pepper, well then that just made it better! Anyway, leave me some love Dolls!<strong>

**Love you, **

**RobertDowneyJrLove**


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